location: 4217 Notre Dame West
phone number:514.509.0731
hours:closed Mon, Tues-Sun 12-6
payment methods:Cash, Interac, Visa, Mastercard, Amex
Directions: walk south to Notre-Dame from St-Henri metro, then west about two blocks under the tracks. Perfide is just west of the underpass.

The first thing I saw upon entering Perfide was a handmade stuffed monkey; striped, wearing a tutu, smoking a stuffed cigarette. This basically set the tone – a tone of slightly dark whimsy – for the rest of store. The tiny space on Notre-Dame in St-Henri is bright and cheery, crammed with clothes for men and women, jewellery, bags, paintings, and the occasional grown-up toy. Perfide is a showcase of owners José and Julia’s quirky (and classically Quebecois) tastes, and a testament to the talent of their circle of friends: José claims that the only criteria for displaying an artist or designer is that he “like the people.”

This policy results in a mainly locally-made selection, with some Quebec City and Vancouver-based labels thrown in for good measure. The small number of brands represented includes Sarcastik, More Than A Friend, Damned Dollies, Supayana, and Roadkill. There are lots of reconstructed vintage pieces, including tops ($30-$60), printed purses and bags ($40-$80), and crazy necklaces ($28-$100). I also managed to find my perennial favourite, customized undies, for only $15 a pair. Much to my relief, there was only one printed tee-shirt with a bird design, and in keeping with that spirit of imaginative black comedy, the birds were eating each other’s heads.

The best aspect of shopping at Perfide is that any of the painted canvases adorning the walls can be printed onto a t-shirt. José showed me a few examples, like the Nightmare Before Christmas-esque skinny, sallow boy and girl paintings that had been transferred onto black and white shirts, to great, haunting effect. Given that the art is a little out of the average Saturday-at-the-shops budget (they range from about $100-$800), this is a great way to take some of Perfide’s dark whimsyness home with you.

profile by Laura Snelgrove
photography by Heather Utah